Paradise
by samtana
Summary: Sokka finds himself in paradise. For a little while, at least.


If this is a little confusing at any point, don't worry. Everything will be clear at the end. I really enjoy writing stories like this, you know. Just to be perfectly clear from the outset, though: this story has nothing to do with vegetarianism. You'll see what I mean in a bit. And now, for the disclaimer:

Toph: Oh, Samtana! Look what I've got!

Aang: Ow, Toph, that hurts! Don't grab me so hard!

Samtana: You… Avatar… own… how…?

Toph: My family is the richest in the world, after all. Emphasis on the word "world." And "richest." And "in" is pretty good, too.

Samtana: But you know how much I've wanted to own Avatar! I'll do anything you ask, just please let me own it!

Toph: Anything?

Samtana: Gulp!

**Paradise**

Paradise. That was the only word Sokka could think of when he awoke. The smell of an enormous Earth Kingdom barbecue wafted up to his nose, a roast blending all sorts of mouthwatering meat scents into the air. Feeling saliva sting at the corners of his mouth and an empty pit in his stomach, Sokka looked over at the snoring Momo, who, unfortunately, was definitely still alive and uncooked. But soon enough Sokka had plenty of reason to forget his temporary dissatisfaction as well as his gaping hunger. All around him, in glowing rainbow colors, vibrant trees bore multi-colored fruit, lazily hanging at eye level like stubborn raindrops that refused to fall. Evidently Sokka, now sitting up under the fruity low-level canopy, was in the middle of a forest of these savory trees, bombarded as strong as ever by the blissful smell of roast meats.

Standing up and plucking a large, purple fruit from the nearest tree, Sokka experimented sinking his watering mouth into the flesh to be instantly surprised by the potent taste of slow-cooked meat that cascaded into his mouth. It was something he had always hoped he would someday see: trees that bore meat! Forgetting decorum, he dove his ravenous mouth into the meat-flavored fruit again, devouring the savory morsel as fast as his mouth could manage, reaching with his left hand to another tree and grabbing another sample to start with once he was finished with the first. Yes, this must be paradise, he though as he tossed aside the dripping core of the first fruit and turned his attention to the second.

"Well, well, well, aren't you so proud of yourself?" said a scornful voice from behind him. "Have you now had the chance to fulfill your primal urges? Have you finally been able to purge yourself of the curse of a dissatisfied gastro-intestinal system? Bask in your gluttony, you pig, and think not of the murderous path you have decided to trod."

Sokka stopped chewing and looked around. There didn't seem to be anything else around him but the glistening trees of meaty paradise, certainly nothing that had the capacity for speech. Perhaps he only thought he had heard someone talking through all the noisy chewing. After all, most of the words he perhaps had heard were not even in his vocabulary.

"All you think about is yourself," said Momo, flapping up to a tree to attain easy eye contact with Sokka. "You stuff your face with the bodies of creatures that were once alive and you dismiss the injustice of it all. You're nothing more than a murderous brute without self-control, doomed to walk life as a sub-human ball of unchecked instincts."

Sokka erupted into a panic, dropping the food from his hands and falling to a hasty bow. "I'm so sorry, Momo!" he begged. "I didn't mean to offend you! I just saw the fruit on the trees and I thought I could eat what I wanted if I'm in paradise…"

"Save your lame-brained justifications for someone who cares," grunted Momo, turning his head away with disgust. "What if someone were to have eaten your mother after she was killed? Would that be enough of an explanation for her untimely death? No, I think not. And yet you wreck the families of living things every day through your meat consumption without a second thought. You are a worse monster than the Fire Nation."

"Momo," sniffed Sokka, trying his hardest to keep to his manly self and refrain from crying. "I said I was sorry. You don't have to be so cruel about it."

"Why not?" barked the lemur. "Why should your cruelty not be fought with equal malice? You should be ashamed of your decadent disregard for life, and if cruelty should bring this shame into being, so be it."

"But it's the natural order of things," pleaded Sokka, rising to his feet again. "It's like animals who are at the top of the food chain who get to eat the weaker animals. It's just the way things are, isn't it?"

"Oh?" said Momo, eyeing Sokka viciously. "What if you were at the bottom of the food chain? Would your tiny brain be able to think differently about it?"

"I'm not saying-" Sokka started, but his train of thought was broken by the shifting of tree branches all around him, hundreds of colorful fruits turning to show their undersides, which revealed hundreds of rows of wide grins filled with sharp teeth. He could have sword he saw a pink one smack its lips in the distance, assuming it even had lips to smack. Sokka's legs knew it was time to run before his brain did, and before he could register what was happening he was stumbling away from paradise forest, dodging darting pink pears and deflecting orange apples with the hilt of his boomerang.

"Do you understand now, half-wit?" hollered Momo as Sokka fled. "This is the fear and hatred your actions inspire!"

Sokka lumbered through the luscious woods in a panicked frenzy, dropped into what seemed to be an eternal flight. And yet, through all the fear and survival instinct, not once did it occur to Sokka to feel that this predicament had any direct connection to his decision to devour the meat of the forest. He never once felt like he should scream to the sky that he would forever forfeit his love of meat in an effort to atone for the crimes Momo accused him of. In fact, he felt hungrier than ever, looking forward to nothing more than his right to his next meal should he be able to escape. All he felt throughout the monotonously dangerous chase was intense fear and intense hunger.

Eventually he broke free of the clearing and out into the open, relieved to finally see the welcome sight of big, protective Appa and small, powerful Aang on the sandy riverbed. The two of them were sleeping soundly next to his sister, wrapped in her parka. Sokka had to warn her, he knew, and he lifted her limp body close.

"Katara! Katara, wake up!" he shouted with a voice surprisingly hoarse and weak, failing to awaken anyone. He glanced nervously back towards the forest to see trees marching like a green wave slowly towards the river. Gathering the biggest voice he could, he shook Katara's sleeping mass and shouted, "Food eats people! Food eats people!"

_Fine_

-----------------------------------

I was too hungry not to write this.

Samtana: How much dirt _do_ you have between your toes?

Toph: Just keep picking!

Samtana: Can I have Avatar now?

Toph: Quiet, slave!

Samtana: …grumble, grumble…

-samtana


End file.
